SRC-JBJ C.S.H.B. 1323 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research CenterC.S.H.B. 1323
By: Shields (Staples)
Criminal Justice
5/3/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Under current Texas law, when a person is arrested for a crime, an
indictment or information must be filed charging that person with a crime.
If it is determined that no probable cause existed, a trial court can
dismiss the case.  Under these circumstances a person can request
expunction of the arrest record and other related files, but if the
indictment or information used to charge the person for the alleged crime
is quashed because of non-prosecution or other showing of lack of probable
cause, no provisions exist for the application of expunction of the records
against a person in such a situation.  C.S.H.B. 1323 allows the expunction
of criminal records after an indictment or information is quashed.  

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a
state officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Article 55.01(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, to provide
that a person who has been arrested for commission of either a felony or
misdemeanor is entitled to have all records and files relating to the
arrest expunged under certain specific conditions. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 3(c), Article 55.02, Code of Criminal Procedure,
to require the clerk of the court, when the order of expunction is final,
to send a certified copy of the order in a certain manner to the Crime
Records Services of the Department of Public Safety and in a different
certain manner to each official or agency or other entity of this state or
any political subdivisions of this state designated by the person who is
the subject of the order.  Requires the clerk of the court to receive a
receipt for each order delivered by hand under this subsection. 

SECTION 3.  Amends Article 55.03, Code of Criminal Procedure, to provide
that certain conditions exist when the order of expunction is final, rather
than after entry of an expunction order. 

SECTION 4.  Provides that the change in law made by this Act applies to
arrest records and files created before, on, or after the effective date of
this Act. 
 
SECTION 5.  Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2001.


SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE CHANGES

Differs from the original by amending the relating clause.

SECTION 1.  No changes.

Deletes previously proposed SECTIONS 2 and 3 and inserts new SECTIONS 2 and
3. 

 SECTION 4.  Differs from the original by amending previously proposed
provisions regarding the application of this Act. 

Deletes previously proposed SECTION 5 and renumbers previously proposed
SECTION 6 as SECTION 5, relating to the effective date of this Act, with no
change.